There were only two days left in training. Killua knew that these days were going to be long as fucking hell, but there was no point in being impatient. Soon, they would finally be able to return to the Arena… him and Gon at least.

Everybody else had been fighting this whole time. Zushi was on floor 199, and Leorio was on floor 271. Not to mention Kurapika, who's next fight was on floor 300. The three of them had flown up the Arena thanks to all this Blood Magic training.

Training in Sorcery seemed like simply Magical power on the surface, but in reality it honed one's body as well. All of them were stronger, unnaturally so. They also had higher stamina, and were better at reading your opponent's moves. Once you could read a Magical aura and sense things from another person's Ren, sensing physical events became easier than breathing.

Killua knew his own strength, and he knew that he had gotten ridiculously strong. He could feel it in his blood, in his veins, in his very bones. It felt like there was a monster lying beneath the surface of his skin, and that was so incredibly accurate.

The monster was his Magic, which resided in a vast ocean of Energy within him.

His Blood Energy pocket was enormous. There was no physical way to measure its size, but Killua could sense that it was colossal. He had an insane amount of power stored up. It would take one hell of a battle to drain all of this Energy, and that was exactly what it was for.

Gon and Killua had been meditating over their Energy levels for the past three months.

And Ten meditation was like adding ammunition to a gun.

The more Energy you had stored up, the longer you could last in a fight.

Of course, Magical Stamina and the amount of your own power you could handle at a time were factors as well. But none of that mattered if you had a biochemical to keep you going when your natural fuel ran out. And none of that mattered if you always fought while holding back, and could just release another damper when one section of physical power was used up.

Gon and Killua were set, and may as well have been living weapons at this point.

He could see it in the way Wing looked at them when he took measure of their progress.

The man was scared.

He had done this, and if anything bad happened it would be him that took the brunt of the consequences.

Killua often wondered who his second stage master would be. Because as Wing had said, first stage training was nothing compared to second stage training. In the second stage you might only have Hatsu to master rather than Ten, Ren, and Zetsu, but once you reached that final level everything got so much more complicated.

Wing had told them that he was a puppy compared to a second stage master, who would be a looming Cerberus Beast above them.

And Killua wondered about this person frequently.

Because the fact of the matter was, that Gon and Killua were strong enough to beat the Arena with only the most basic understanding of Blood Magic. That was how much raw power and natural talent they had at their disposal. So if the second stage and actual spells were really that big of a power up, then who the hell would be able to handle the two of them?

It was incredibly egotistical, Killua knew that well.

But still.

It felt like… it was impossible to get any stronger than he already was.

And he was about to prove that in battle.

On another hand, however… he could get as physically strong as he wanted… but he was so emotionally weak that it disgusted him. By this, he meant his feelings for Gon. Pause had been pressed on their entire lives for these two months of training, and Killua had been hoping that a wake up call like this would be enough to snap him out of this stupid pinning and lovesick mess.

But no. That was not the case.

Because he spent every waking minute at Gon's side.

And he loved it.

He loved every second of it. If they were in excruciating pain from overusing their Ren and crossing the border of their Magical stamina, Killua would still be the happiest person on the planet. Why? Because Gon was here. He was right there, right with him at all times.

Sure, nothing embarrassing had been able to happen thanks to the tight schedule.

And no dreams had haunted his nights in their glorious sin. No, he'd collapse in exhaustion at the end of every day, no room for dreaming when they were only allowed 7 hours of sleep a night.

The training almost felt like… they were in an alternate timeline. It was like they had gotten lost on some epic sidequest, like they had dropped their entire lives to focus only on getting stronger.

They were about to re-enter the real world, and Killua couldn't wait.

He was itching to be free from this tiny apartment. He'd been cooped up for three entire months, dammit!

But in being cooped up… and through all this structure and constantly having something to occupy your days… Killua had gotten a hell of a lot comfortable with openly thinking over Gon. He would no longer shy away from finding him attractive, or wishing that he would do something or other.

"I like Gon," it would be. Constantly "I like Gon so much," there was no running away.

He just… he admired Gon so much.

His mind was so incredibly open to these feelings… and he was honestly a little worried about what it would be like to reenter the world. Would they be able to fall into their usual rhythm of things? They'd been out of it for three entire months.

Once they got their lives back, would they be able to resume where they had left off?

"Killua, you're getting distracted," Gon murmured. His voice was soft and low, so incredibly relaxed.

"Sorry," the Valkyrie mumbled, dragging himself out of his thoughts.

The two of them were sitting back to back, and participating in a special Ren exercise made special for the two of them. They were working with their Magical synchronicity, training their Ren to be used to the other's. As a natural Sorcerer pair, they needed to have their Energies completely comfortable together in order to properly be able to sync up their spells once that time came along.

The exercise consisted of encasing themselves in their Ren. It was not exactly a shield, but rather an enormous pool of Magical Energy encasing them and swirling about. The trick of it was, that it was both of their Ren combined encasing them.

Rather than having their own Ren around each of them, and then having it touch where they did, they mixed their Magic completely, creating a blend of the both of their power.

It was times like these that truly spoiled Killua.

When his Ren was tangled up with Gon's, he could feel that feeling from before. He could feel Gon's soul, his "esense" as Wing called it. They could read each other's Magic, and Killua could even access Gon's Blood Energy pocket and fill it up himself. It was strange… there were a ton of applications for this mixing of Magical power, they just hadn't gotten a chance to use them at all.

But for now, Killua could sit, wrapped up in Gon.

It was incredible, he might as well have been getting high off the feeling. They were so close, in mind and soul. It made his chest lurch, because goddammit he could close like this with Gon but he wasn't allowed to wrap him up in his arms and kiss him senseless.

They could swap thoughts when they were like this, as well as swap Magical energy.

Killua just wanted to test the extent of this ability, but they couldn't do that. Because Wing had forbidden them from fighting until the three months were up. And even when they were up, Heaven's Arena was only for one on one battles.

What would be in their future, what would they face after Yorknew City?

Would they be able to figure this out wherever "there" was?

Hey, Killua.

The Valkyrie sighed, leaning more of his weight against Gon's back. He couldn't help it. Gon's voice in his mind just felt so… right. It echoed against the corners of his skull, bouncing about and warming him to the core.

What? He asked back, sending the thought through the mixture of their Magic and using it as a doorway to Gon's mind. If accessing another's mind through Magic was this easy… then it was no wonder Illumi figured out how to program Killua's mind.

I'm excited.

You're always excited.

No, it's not just that! I'm just, every time I think about being able to fight again, I get all trembly.

Killua felt a tremor pass over the surface of Gon's Blood Energy pocket.

You've been telling me this exact thing ever since we started training~

I know but I'm just so–

"Excited," yeah, I know.

Well. I guess what I'm trying to say is… getting this power really means a lot to me. And I'm really glad that I got to train with you like this. Now we match, we both have learned Magic and we're both going to the 300th floor.

We've been matching the whole time we've been fighting in the Arena. Killua concealed his fluffy chest and his swooning with a standoffish attitude and aggressive words, like he always did.

I know that! Quit being difficult!

:3

I really hate that you're able to do that through our minds sometimes.

:3

:p

Killua laughed out loud, as well as sent his laughter rippling through the Magic and into Gon's mind. The hybrid laughed with him, the sound light and musical.

Leorio opened an eye and glared at them from where he was sitting on the couch. "Cut that shit out, would you?! It's so damn creepy! It was creepy when you read each other's minds before, and using Magic to do it isn't any less weird!"

Gon and Killua opened their eyes and blinked at Leorio, Gon leaning from around Killua.

"'EWWWW, stop blinking at the same time, it's so fucking weird, I swear to the gods it makes my skin crawl!"

Gon and Killua shared a glance and then stuck out their tongues, adding more Energy to their Ren mixture just for the added–

"AHHHH!" Leorio's focus completely broke, and his Ren shield fizzled away. He aggressively rubbed at his head, and Killua and Gon were in hysterics. "Damn it, you know I can sense it when you do shit like that, and it's so fucking creepy!"

"Leorio," Kurapika scolded, eyes still closed and still in Ten meditation. "Wing is going to be upset with you."

"I know you can feel it too!" the Goblin accused, pointing aggressively at the serene Elf. "Doesn't it feel weird?!"

"It has a prickling sensation. And as Wing has told us and as you already know, it is our aura glands warning us that an attack from the two of them in this state would be double the damage, so we'd need to double our defenses. Leave them be and let them share a brain."

"They need to share a room, if anything," Leorio grumbled.

Killua stiffened, "Shut the fuck UP, old man!"

Leorio snickered, Kurapika along with him.

What's wrong? Gon asked into Killua's mind.

"They're being creepy old men, that's what's wrong!"

But we already share a room? We used to all the time?

"That's not what they meant! Just be quiet," Killua commanded, shoving Gon in an attempt to disrupt his focus. He only laughed, and shoved back.

"The half psychic half out loud conversations are a little creepy, I have to say," Zushi whined from his place in the corner.

"What's going on in there?" Wing called sternly from the kitchen. The five immediately went back to their training, Gon and Killua especially. Their wrestling had added violent intent to their Magic, and the cloud of Ren had started to get stronger and more aggravated, sending off a warning aura.

Gon giggled into Killua's mind, keeping his lips closed tight so as not to get the others distracted. Gon and Killua may have been done with their training for a week, but Kurapika, Lerorio, and Zushi still had some work to do if they wanted to complete their training by the deadline.

I'm excited too, Killua admitted.

Aw, I know! But thanks for admitting it 3

Stop.

3 3 3

StOp!

Gon's musical laughter echoed through Killua's mind, and he couldn't help but smile. He loved that laugh. Gon was really too much sometimes.

Gon smiled, feelin Killua's through their combined Ren. He knew Killua was trying to be sneaky about it, but he couldn't hide his smiling when they were sharing a brain! They could hide their thoughts, but not their feelings! Or at least… not entirely.

Gon could still hide his feelings.

He was getting a lot of nostalgia from all this training. It felt like his entire life had paused, and there was nothing in existence but training. He had missed this feeling, and he was so incredibly glad to be able to train again.

Although, he missed being able to just hang out with Killua.

It had been three months since they'd had even a scrap of free time!

He was excited to get back to fighting, and dying to test out these new powers.

But more than anything he couldn't wait to be free to just be with Killua again.

However… there was something bugging him. It had been bugging him for a while now, but it had been so subtle that he hadn't really obsessed over it. Killua was hiding something, Gon was certain of it. It was such a vague feeling, but whenever they mixed their Ren or merged their minds he could feel it on the edges of Killua's psyche.

He was clearly having trouble with whatever it was he was hiding, if Gon could sense it.

What was going on with Killua? He was acting like everything was normal, but if something had been bothering him for this long then why hadn't he said something to Gon about it?

Gon had half a mind to just jump in a demand to know what it was that Killua was concealing from him, but he was anxious to get back to how they had once been… and a bigger part of him was scared that they wouldn't be able to go back to how they were if he started trying to dig up Killua's problems.

And that was the thing… Why was he so anxious about going back to normal with Killua? For some reason, he cared a whole lot more about his friendship with Killua, and he didn't want to lose it more than ever.

He knew they were best friends, but there was this tiny hint of that something else.

And that tiny hint was paranoid about them being able to resume where they had left off in the elevator that night. When they had watched the city lights, and Gon had leaned up against Killua's shoulder. That moment held a soft spot in Gon's mind, and for some reason he dreamed of it every once in a while.

Gon wanted to be closer to Killua.

They were already best friends, but he wanted to be closer.

Why was that? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't one to question his impulses.

He was just worried, was all. He couldn't get closer unless they were normal again once things started back up. Come to think of it, he'd had these same fears when they had been leaving the Neko-Village. Only this time, he was more paranoid and less scared of being alone.

Because it would be worse if they were still together, but lost that link between them.

Gon was strong. So incredibly strong. He had all this power, but that power didn't matter if attaining it made him lose what he had with Killua. Sitting here with the Valkyrie, back to back and mind to mind, it felt so right.

This was how it was supposed to be, just Gon and Killua.

They could go back to how things had been. Just because they had been focused on training for three months instead of on each other didn't mean anything had changed. Yeah. Gon reassured himself of this, and then refocused on their blended Ren.

Killua, we're going fishing, right? When the season comes?

Yeah.

Yay.

Gon smiled. Yeah, he had nothing to worry about.

Ah, this serene waterflow. It was so relaxing. Kurapika would continue to use this Ten meditation once training was over, and not just to increase his Energy level, but to calm himself down. Whenever he was feeling anxious or stressed out, focusing on this serene and natural flow of Magical energy within him was like taking a relaxant.

And he needed this right about now.

Things were getting serious. Kurapika now held a strong Magical weapon at his disposal.

The Spiders were all Sorcerers, that much Kurapika had already known. It was through his perusal of the Spiders that he had sort of stumbled upon the secret that Sorcery held. It had bothered him a little, that the Phantom Troupe held such a secretive and well concealed power.

But he had been determined to fight them with his own abilities.

If you can imagine, finding out about Blood Magic from Gon and Killua had been quite the unwelcomed wake up call. This whole time, he had been running into a blizzard naked. Had he challenged the Spiders prior to this training… he would have died.

Dammit. It bothered him so much.

Now that he knew the secret of the 300th floor, it was all that was on his mind.

He had ascended the battle royale tower with such striking ease ever since his training had begun, and he'd known this whole three months that he was on a collision course with the Spiders.

But now… with only two more days left of training, he was about to enter the 300th floor.

He was about to enter the Spider's territory.

It was annoying him to no end, it was prickling at his mind and making him restless.

This had been his goal for years now. He had been running at full speed towards this doorway ever since that horrid night. Meeting Gon, Killua, and Leorio had been like a breath of fresh air… he had been in such a dark place then. And these three had kept him from completely losing it.

However. Even fresh air was not enough when one was standing in a room filled with poison gas.

The Spiders.

The Spiders.

Kurapika was about to meet them.

He was ready.

He was strong now.

Damn it. This was painful.

He was so close, yet so far.

He wanted these two days to pass, but at the same time he wanted them to last forever.

He had been freed from this dark obsession for months now thanks to Gon, Killua, and Leorio. But now that he was so close… he felt its dark fingers tickling at his heart once more. He could handle this. He could keep himself grounded. He wouldn't run off, and he wouldn't fall into that blind and obsessive charge again.

He would beat the Spiders and drain them of information with a level head.

Yes. This he could do.

Kurapika took a deep breath, and refocused on the flow of his Ten.

The gentle flowing lulled him into a trance, a thoughtless and empty trance.

This was exactly what his mind needed. His mind that was always so full with rage, impatience, and revenge.


AN: ahhh, fanfiction hates me. it won't do the greater than and less than signs! see? 3 no hearts. :3 and no angry cat face :( well, i tried